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arminhug · 4 years ago

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hello, pumpkin || annie leonhardt x reader: chapter two

series masterlist

。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。..・。.・゜✭・.・✫

BIRTHDAY GIRL

Annie and I never established that we were friends until her eighth birthday.

In the blossoming spring warmth, I nestled myself in the corner of the bench in the playground’s garden. It was an unspoken fact that nobody really played in the garden; it was a quiet haven for a few of us to read or enjoy solitude, yet it had also become a spot where I waited for Annie every day, and almost every day, had she not been sent home or busy with other obligations, Annie joined me, sometimes speaking, sometimes not. I didn’t mind; I just loved to be in her company.

On this particular day, Annie stood before me, and despite her being the same height as me, her air always made her seem much bigger and powerful.

“My dad says this is for you.”

She handed me a white envelope into which I fervently tore, revealing a gaudy invitation card.

“It’s your birthday on Saturday?” I quizzed.

“No, my birthday is today. But my dad said it was too short notice to invite you to my house today, so you can come on Saturday.”

At this news of Annie’s birthday, I immediately leapt to my feet and braced her in a hug. “Happy birthday! What cake are you having? Are you going to hand out sweets to your class?”

Annie did not hug me back but did not resist. “I don’t like cake, and I don’t like anyone in my class.”

I gasped. “How can you not like cake? Also, who’s going to be at your party if you don’t like anyone in your class?”

“Cake is too heavy and sweet.” She responded monotonously. “Also, you’re the only one coming; it’s not a party, my dad just knows I have a friend now and wanted you to come. You don’t have to.”

Unlike Annie, I didn’t actively avoid the other children in my school. I was still invited to many class birthday parties, I spoke amiably to my peers and I could name a few schoolchildren whom I could consider a friend— yet Annie, the stoic, ash-blonde girl confessing she saw me as a friend elicit such joy within me, I can still remember the feeling to this day if I think about her enough.

“So if I’m your friend, I have to get you a present, right?” I had reminded her of the title that she gave me moments ago.

“No. I don’t want a present.”

“Yes you do, everyone wants presents!” I retorted. “What do you like best in the world?”

“Cats.”

I sat down, sulking. “I can’t get you a cat, Annie. What else do you like?”

Silence.

“Mummy and I can make you something.” I continued, desperate to find something that I could give to my friend. “She’s really good at baking. Do you like cookies?”

“No.”

“Cupcakes?” I refused to give up.

“No! Cupcakes are tiny cakes, you know I hate cakes.”

“Brownies?”

“No.”

“Doughnuts?”

This time, Annie turned away, not meeting the question with a monosyllabic “no”.

“Doughnuts! Annie, I’ll make you lots of doughnuts, okay?”

Annie still refused to look me in the eye. It never bothered me, but I had gathered that she was more inclined to refuse eye contact when she was upset or shy. Before I had the chance to attempt to pry into which flavour of doughnut she would have liked, the bell signalling the end of recess rang. I leapt to my feet and pressed a chaste kiss to Annie's cheek.

“See you later, you doughnut!”

She shoved me towards my line with no malice in the action. “Whatever you say, pumpkin girl.”

“Earth to (y/n)? You’ve been glazed over for the past five minutes. What’s so exciting about the window?”

I blink, snapping out of the saccharine memory of Annie’s birthday. Four pairs of eyes are fixed on me, and I animate myself, taking the doughnut from my plate and shrugging. “I was just thinking,” I respond.

“You sure? Not looking at any hot dudes?” the only other female at the table, Sasha, suggests. Her hazel eyes flicker suggestively over to the group of men kicking a ball about in the park over the road from our favourite local café, which has baked goods to die for (or so Sasha and Connie, the food fanatics of my friendship group claim. I won’t argue—the doughnuts are heavenly.)

“Yeah, c’mon, (y/n)! There are three dashing fellows right here, why do you need to stare at those losers?” Connie chimes in, gesturing to himself and my other two male friends, Jean and Marco.

“Yeah, you wish. My type isn’t idiots,” I playfully smack Connie’s head, the growing stubble brushing my fingertips as I find any way to bring the subjects away from men that I would apparently find attractive.

“On all seriousness, what is your type? We’ve never seen you have anyone about.” Jean interrogates. Great.

It took me a while to figure out that I’m likely not into men. I never quite knew why I got so uncomfortable when middle school brought an array of boy bands that prepubescent teenage girls loved to swoon over, and why I could never answer when somebody asked me who was the hottest, but at the age of sixteen, when I realised my heart was racing upon seeing two women kiss in a film my friends and I had watched, it hit me like a freight train that I was definitely attracted to women.

I chose not to indulge anyone in this knowledge; realistically, I know I don’t have too much to worry about. Sure, my parents aren’t screaming about supporting gay rights from the rooftops, but I know that they have no prejudice towards the community, and my four closest friends would accept me no matter what — hell, Marco told us he was gay when we were fifteen and sixteen years old over a game of Mario Kart and we embraced his queerness with open arms.

So what’s the big deal? I think to myself.

“Does it matter? I’m too busy to date. These university decisions are killing me!”

“Simple,” Jean interrupts, pointing the straw of his ridiculously large iced coffee in my direction. “You come to Marley with Marco and me. Good university, far enough away from your parents, and you get your favourite friends with you for the ride!”

Jean and Marco are one class above Sasha, Connie and I, and decided that Marley University, a small, public school that gained a decent reputation despite it being so new, was the place for them. It was hard to say goodbye once they left school, but the holiday breaks came frequently, and soon enough, they were back for Easter, helping their three younger friends decide on which school to go to.

“Tempting, but probably not. I can’t get over the English department in Sina,” I responded dreamily.

“Yeah, and the crazy entry requirements. You’d have to be a robot to get those grades! Just come to Marley with us, I’m sure the English stuff is fine there, too!” Sasha whined, poking at my hand. I take another bite of my nostalgic treat, shaking my head.

“Guys, I love you all, but I can’t make such an important decision based on my friends. You understand, right?”

“It’s fine, (y/n),” Marco interrupts, his familiar comforting smile gracing his freckled face. “We’ll come to visit you up there, right?”

“Nope. Four of us, one of you. She is coming to Marley.” Jean retorts.

“Jesus, fair enough. I’ll book the plane tickets now!” I tell him sardonically. He elbows me jovially in response and stands, coffee in hand. “Right, we can finish our drinks and snacks on the way outside. It's too nice to be spending it indoors.”

Ignoring the protests from Sasha and Connie, who forlornly protest that they haven't had the chance to order a baked good after their main courses, the majority of the group tail towards the double doors, leaving the duo no choice but to begrudgingly follow suit. The late March sunshine is glorious, beaming down on my face, much like the day twelve years ago I was daydreaming about. It suddenly hit me that today, March 22nd, Annie would be turning twenty years old. This newfound knowledge makes my stomach drop and I cannot control the grief coursing through my being.

It's ever so odd how I can remember every detail about my childhood friend; every memory we shared together, her favourite colour, (black, which I insisted was rather morbid for an eight-year-old, so I coaxed her into putting blue as a second favourite) how on Sunday mornings her father would always pick her up from my house after a sleepover at 10 am sharp to take her to karate, even though she had told me in confidence that she much preferred kickboxing. I couldn't tell you many facts about any other childhood friend who I lost to time; it's only Annie. Every detail of the girl who made my infancy etched into my heart, refusing to leave.

As I force myself back into the present moment, I am aware that maybe Annie was more than just my best friend.

But I was so young. How could I have truly differentiated between innocuous childhood affection and romantic yearning?

“Marco?” I punctuate the spring silence before I can even stop myself. “How did you realise your first crush?”

Marco raises his eyebrows. “Jeez, it was so long ago. I was eleven and I was having a sleepover with my friend. We were on his bed playing Minecraft on his laptop, but I wasn’t even paying attention; I was just admiring his face, how he was so engrossed in the game. My heart was racing because I realised I wanted to kiss him, but I didn’t even think it was biologically possible to like the same sex, so I brushed it off. Now I look back…” he laughs awkwardly, before looking me in the eye, his tone suddenly earnest. “Why, what’s up? Anything you want to talk to me about?”

I stop in the street, completely oblivious to the speed of modern day life around me. Suddenly all I care about is how my stomach leapt when I saw her pallid figure walk through the double doors, into the garden, how I found any excuse to hold her hand, how obsessed I was with the topography of her curved nose, icy eyes, lips stark against her pale skin.

“How do you know for sure you’re gay if you’ve only ever had a crush on one person in your life? Somebody who you haven’t spoken to in eight years?”

。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。..・。.・゜✭・.・✫

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yodawgiherd · 5 years ago

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Birthday Girl

Rating: T

>>>Read on AO3<<<

Hey hey people. I know that last time I've promised you some dirt in the next chapter, but then Mikasa's birthday came around and I just had to make one where she's simply, you know, happy. Because she deserves it. I'll do my best do deliver the next time I write, pinky promise :)

Enjoy!

It’s amazing what a human mind can achieve once it's freed from its carnal desires. Calling his time “productive” would be an understatement for Eren. Just a day after having his most basic desire taken away, he was already sharing a much needed catch up dinner with Armin, talking about everything that happened over the last few months. He learned that his friend’s book was going along well, for once, as Armin picked up the pace and began working on it again. His sessions with Hitch were less frequent too, the psychiatrist saying that Armin was good, and only getting better. To get a second opinion on this, Eren called Hitch, but she only confirmed what Armin said. Although mentioning Annie was still difficult for him, he was finally over her.

Moving on with his catch-up journey, Eren paid a visit to the bar, to see how Connie and Sasha were doing. And while Armin had only good news for him, these two weren’t doing that well. Sasha was obsessed with something, Connie said, but she wouldn’t share what it was, often leaving for hours and coming back late. An activity that was dangerous for anyone, and especially for a woman in a wheelchair, but Sasha was adamant that whatever she was doing, she must do on her own.

Next, Eren grabbed a quick drink with Jean, noting that his friend seemed more relaxed than ever, but when asked all Jean did was shrug and say that he confronted some old demons of the past. And finally, least but not last, Eren finalized his order of the gift for Mikasa’s birthday, an event that was coming up. A celebration would be held at the Third Wheel, of course, but he had something special for his girl, a gift that would be best shared just between the two of them, not out in the public.

The party itself still required some planning, and Eren was just about to call if the cake is ready when his phone pinged, indicating an incoming message. From the birthday girl herself, nonetheless.

“Hey.”, it said. Quite non-descript.

Well then.

“Hey yourself.”

“You doing something?”

Eren arched an eyebrow at that. What a weird thing to ask.

“Not really, what’s up?”

“I need your help.”

Oh? But before Eren could ask what Mikasa needed a hand with, his phone pinged again.

“What do you think about my posture?”

And a photo right after. A photo that made Eren’s fingers tighten around the phone, eyes widening. Apparently, his lovely girlfriend was at the gym right now, working on herself. The picture was nice, to be sure, a nice photo of a mirror reflection that displayed Mikasa bending over and showing herself off to the best of her ability. Her ass was a godlike one, Eren always said, and dressed in the short workout shorts it was a delicious snack he would do anything to get. The angle was very good too, if anything, her modeling career taught Mikasa how to strike a pose to really get someone going, and it was working wonders on Eren. Correction, it would be working wonder if not for a certain deal he made just a day back, a deal which now prevented his body from reacting normally to this kind of stimulation. Instead of any hardening, he was hit by a very unpleasant wave of tightness between his legs, the restrictive device working as intended. God. Fucking. Damnit. Yet before he could retaliate, another ping.

This time she was facing the camera, holding the phone up, giving him a very nice view of her cleavage and the smug grin that sat on her face. Sweat was running freely down her skin, so she was probably working herself hard as usual, but the way the corners of her lips turned up left no room for discussion. Mikasa knew exactly what she was doing. And Eren was once again left completely stunned.

“You think I’m standing right?”

Oh, now she asked. Eren could only imagine how much she was enjoying herself right now, giggling at the gym. The tease. Breathing in, breathing out, Eren looked away from the screen, closing his eyes and trying to empty his mind from the pictures that were burned into his brain. Honestly speaking, he didn’t even notice the cage before this damned conversation, busy as he was, easily ignoring the added weight at his crotch. But now it was painfully present, pushing down his budding erection, and Eren had to agree that it was rather uncomfortable. Another ping cut into the darkness. Then another. And another. Damn spammer.

He should ignore those messages, Eren reasoned with himself, just put Mikasa on mute for the day and move on with his party planning, but as always, his reasonable side got pushed down by the primal one. He had to see her, just had to. With a sigh, knowing that whatever she sent will be another test of his self-control, Eren cracked his eyes open. Well, he was correct.

“Eren?”

“Are you ignoring me?”

And lastly, another picture. This time, Mikasa went all out, holding her shirt and bra between her teeth, shamelessly flashing her tits into the camera. Judging from the surroundings, she moved to the changing room, and it was logical considering that Mikasa was hardly the type to undress in the middle of the gym. Unable to help himself, Eren stared, mesmerized, at the small perky mounds, pale skin bathed in sweat, dark nipples in the middle, the cage slowly changing from uncomfortable into an infernal torment. Breath wheezing, he forced his fingers to move.

“Your posture looks fine.”, he slowly typed in, knowing very well that Mikasa had years and years of experience with how to treat her body. She knew what to do but abusing her boyfriend’s chastity situation was simply too tempting.

“Nice tits.”, he added after a pause.

There. That will show her. An answer pinged soon after.

“Thanks 😊”

Eren had to move her mind away from this, otherwise, there was a chance that she might just document her whole shower to him. And while normally Eren would welcome these nudes, right now they were a source of pain, not pleasure.

“You coming to the party tomorrow?”, he asked.

“I believe I don’t have a choice, considering it’s my birthday party.”

“I took care of the planning, but you still need to invite those fashion people.”

“I did. And Kiyomi is going to attend, would you believe that?”

“That woman really likes you, huh?”

“Well, I do have an exclusive deal with her agency. I’m making her some good money.”

Eren chuckled.

“It’s not like she’s paying you bad tho, is it?”

The three dots indicated that Mikasa is typing something, but then they stopped, giving Eren a pause. But then it clicked for him.

“You don’t even know, do you?”

Half a city away, Mikasa grimaced, staring at the message. Ok, maybe she kinda stopped caring about her financial situation a while back. She had her card, and when she wanted to buy something, she simply bought it, just like that. Some might say that it’s irresponsible, leaving all of her monetary worries on her fiancé, but Mikasa grew in an environment where they had to literally count every penny to make it to the next paycheck, and it felt damn amazing to just stop caring. Levi was with her, back when she was signing the agreement with Kiyomi, making sure that they weren’t getting ripped off, but Mikasa didn’t pay much attention, half in disbelief that anyone would hire her for modeling work. In short, she had no idea how much Kiyomi was paying her. Carefully, she wrote back to Eren, doing her best to appear in control.

“Let’s say that hypothetically I really don’t know. Is it a lot?”

“Hypothetically?”

Hell, he was onto her. She sighed.

“Fine, you got me, I have no idea. Can you please tell me?”

A smirking emoji with the following message.

“She’s paying you very well Mikasa, combine that with the MMA winnings and you are rather rich at this point.”

“I am?”

“Yup.”

Mikasa felt a rush of light-headedness, sitting down on the bench. She was rich? The girl who ate cheap ramen five days a week during her teenage years? The same one who had to buy cheap replicas for her jewelry and the only pieces that might be worth something were her crucifix earrings and the necklace with the massive silver cross from Levi? Funny how that worked out. Satisfied that he stunned her enough, Eren smiled to himself. Now that Mikasa’s mind was wandering elsewhere, he was once again free from her demonic temptations, at least for a time.

“I still have to finish with the party planning.”, he wrote, “Love you.”

With that, he pocketed his phone, only to realize that he was just about to call about the cake. With a groan, he pulled it out once more. So much to do, so little time.

After a bit of thinking, Eren decided to give his gift to Mikasa before the party. So when she woke up on the day of her birthday, she came down to a surprise that made her eyes widen.

“Happy birthday!”, Eren said, leaning on the gift.

The gift which was nothing else but a full-fledged dance pole, including a small stage and everything, with enough room around that she could practice any wild moves Mikasa ever dreamed of. Pole dancing was a serious sport, and it was taxing as hell too, hard to master, a workout for your whole body. He had this idea of getting her one ever since they visited the strip club together and she was so taken with the dancers there, but logistic problems along with other things delayed it. However, when Eren realized that her birthday was coming, he finally kicked himself to act and finalize the deal. And here it was.

Judging from the way she tackled him, murmuring thank you between the kisses, Mikasa loved the gift. Now all she had to do was survive the party and she could start doing some killer workouts at home. To train for MMA matches by pole dancing might not be the standard, but it would be a welcome addition to her routine, and Mikasa was already looking forward to it.

As it turned out, Mikasa Ackerman was more popular than she expected. The bar was full, people were even standing outside, but as the weather was reasonable for once it wasn’t that big of an issue. Most of the new faces that Eren couldn’t recognize were Kiyomi’s fault, of course, as the old woman moved expertly between them, often pulling Mikasa along to show her star girl to the potential customers. Eren couldn’t even remember if he ever spent so much of a party on his own, his fiancé being carried from one small talk to the other by the inexhaustible fashion mogul. Leaning on the bar, he watched the happening around himself for a moment, a smile tugging on his lips. A large number of people understandably meant a large number of presents too; the gifts now piled up on the table in the middle. The most scandalous one was Kiyomi’s, as the old woman gave Mikasa nothing else but a damn billboard. Replacing the old Coca-Cola advertisement was no one else but the birthday girl herself. It wouldn’t be Kiyomi if she didn’t turn it into some profit for herself tho, so Mikasa wasn’t just occupying the billboard without use. In fact, the gift itself was simply an ad, if you looked at it, it was a promotion of the new biker gear collection. Next to the fashion brand’s name, Mikasa was sitting on a bike, looking over her shoulder to the camera, dressed in very stylish leather clothes that didn’t look like they saw a day on the road. And to Eren’s amusement, they made her wear heels for the photoshoot, a thing that Mikasa herself despised, as wearing heels to a bike was nothing else but pure vanity that could end up very badly for the driver. The same could be said for the overly “badass” jacket, as it had a skull on the back with a “Ride or Die” slogan above it. Yet Eren was forced to admit that if he overlooked these unnecessary wrinkles, the photo itself was very well done, Pixis knew what he was doing. Mikasa was hot and badass at the same time, surely getting the attention of anyone who would look at the billboard. And getting someone’s attention was the first step to a successful sale, as Kiyomi herself said.

“Hi there.”

Startled, he looked to the right, seeing that the voice came from a woman he didn’t know, a blonde with startlingly blue eyes and cleavage deep enough to draw the attention of any male in the room. From the way she looked Eren guessed that she was most likely a model too, same as Mikasa, probably invited by Kiyomi or someone affiliated with her.

“Hey.”, he replied, not sure what the woman wanted from him. Did he have something on his face?

“Fun party, huh?”, she continued, twirling a strand of her hair.

“Sure is.”, Eren felt a pang of pride in his chest upon hearing those words. After all, he did all the planning himself, and it was good to hear a stranger’s appreciation.

“Are you here alone?”, the blond went on, her eyes getting bit flirtier as she leaned in, giving Eren a prime view of the aforementioned cleavage. And she was definitely well-endowed, no denying that.

Her question combined with the pose finally made Eren realize what this whole thing was about. It felt weird, being hit on randomly, it almost never happened to him as Mikasa was on his arm at basically every social occasion, and Eren never tried to hide his affection for her. It reminded him of that one time when he took a random girl’s offer and ended up in the bathroom unable to get hard. Fun times. It also reminded him that even should he respond to the blonde’s advances, he was literally unable to fuck her, locked up as he was, while his keyholder was somewhere at the party, dragged behind Kiyomi. The realization was funny, making the corners of his lips turn up, a response that the girl took as a positive one. But when she opened her mouth to speak, her eyes darted to the left and she frowned instead, confused. What confused her was quickly revealed too, as a hand snaked around Eren’s waist, pulling him to press his body against someone he knew intimately.

“You having fun baby?”, Mikasa whispered in her low, dangerous voice, eyes burning holes into the blonde even as she spoke to Eren.

“I was.”, he replied, watching the other girl very quickly vacate her chair and disappear into the crowd, once again proving that Mikasa’s death stare was terrifying. He turned on his chair to face her. “What about you? Kiyomi finally let you go?”

“I managed to slip away from her.”, with a tired sigh, Mikasa took the chair left behind by the blonde, “That woman is insane.”

Reaching out, Eren put his hand on her shoulder in a gesture of silent support, fully agreeing that Kiyomi could be too much sometimes.

“Have you talked to Jean?”, he asked, willing to get her mind off the old woman.

“I did.”, Mikasa’s face lit up, “Him and Hitch are really hitting it, aren’t they?”

“True, I don’t think they care about being secretive anymore.”

“Talking about secretive, Sasha still won’t open up.”, the smile on her lips twisted a bit, “I can’t get her to talk about whatever she’s doing, and Connie is clueless too.”

“Maybe Armin will succeed where we failed.”, Eren offered, “He was always the best of us when it came to talking.”

“And he’s liking the party too,”, Mikasa added,” I haven’t seen him this relaxed in ages.”

Armin was enjoying himself, but as much as he liked his friend, there was one person whose approval Eren was after the most. She was the birthday girl, after all, this party was for her. Clearing his throat, he asked.

“What about you, do you like it?”

“Yes, it’ amazing.”, leaning forward, she pressed a kiss to Eren’s cheek, “Thank you so much.”

“Better than the first party I threw you, huh?”

“Oh, you mean…”, Mikasa’s face lit up with a smile, “That one.”

“The one where I took you to a sushi restaurant.”, Eren clicked his tongue, “Do you remember what you said?”

She was full-on laughing now, and just shook her head to indicate that she can’t really speak right now.

“That’s okay because I remember. You said, and I quote: “That’s kinda racist to assume that I like sushi just because I’m half Japanese.” “

“It was a joke!”, she squeezed out, unable to stop herself from laughing, “I liked it!”

“And I had no idea that you were just making fun. We were dating for a few months; I was terrified that I fucked up.”

“Oh Eren,”, finally able to control herself, Mikasa just hugged him, hiding her grin into his neck,” I love you so much.”

“So much that you stare down any woman that dares speak to me, huh?”

She just shrugged.

“You’re mine, I’m not letting anyone else have you.”

“Huh, and who’s possessive again?”

“I’ll be honest, seeing you talk to that girl was a bit hot.”

Eren pulled back, raising an eyebrow.

“Hot?”

She nodded against his skin.

“She had no idea that you’re mine, no idea how much I own you.”, Mikasa’s voice was a whisper now, low and seductive, “She had no idea what you let me do to you.”

Pulling back herself, Mikasa fished between her numerous necklaces to find the chain she was looking for, holding out the key after. Her smile switched from amused to sexy, doing things between Eren’s legs that were bound to be uncomfortable.

“I see all those women looking at you, puppy, I know that they want you, want to have a taste of what’s mine. But they can’t.”, she clicked the key with her black fingernail, “They can’t, because your cock is mine, only mine, isn’t that right?”

“Yours, mistress.”, Eren breathed out, adding the title without even realizing it.

If Mikasa ordered him to kneel before her there, to slide down from his chair and kiss her shoes Eren would do it, she controlled him so easily that it wasn’t even funny. Luckily, Mikasa did nothing of the sorts, letting go of the key as it disappeared back among the collection around her neck.

“And I’ll make it all worth it for you, soon enough.”, the smile on her face changed once more, sliding from sexy to cruel, “I’ll make you suffer, puppy, but you will be loving it all the way. Because I can do anything I want with you, right?”

“Of course, mistress, anything.”

Pulling hard at his tie, Mikasa made him bow down to her height and claimed Eren’s mouth in a wild kiss, one that was sure to leave plenty of black lipstick on his face, sealing her lips on his with a dark promise. One that was bound to come true, as soon as Friday rolls around.

#snk #fanfic #eremika #happy birthday mikasa!#hope she's doing well #:(

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cocoachoux · 8 years ago

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Even as a teenager, Mikasa still finds a way to be a little shit get Eren and Levi together.

HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY @imasmi!!! 8D She has been asking for a COMH sequel for a while now, and while the main fic is done, I thought that this fluffy side short would suffice. o3o I know that I could've added this to COMH: BTS, but I believe this could be read as a standalone fic as well since there's such a big time gap between chapters.

This could also be renamed as 'Chapter 57.5' since this takes place before the last chapter. ^^

It started as something minor.

At first, she didn’t say anything about it, thinking it was a one-off thing that wasn’t worth a second thought – it was a relatively common sight in this day and age, after all, so she shrugged it off.

But then it happened again but from the other person.

She still didn’t say anything about it, still thinking that it wasn’t much an issue – deeming it must be important if the other person did it as well.

But then it happened more and more often that it became a regular occurrence. A habit.

Mikasa’s lips twisted to a frown when she saw that both her dad and her anne were looking at their phones, typing away, not eating the dinner she had (painstakingly) prepared for them.

She tapped restlessly on her plate with her fork (something that she knew her dad hated with a passion), but no word of acknowledgment or even a head turn. They were so engrossed with their devices that Mikasa sighed loudly (again, nothing) and stood up.

“I’m done.”

For whatever reason, that seemed to gain her dad’s attention. Finally. “What’s wrong, Mikasa? You barely touched your plate.”

“You barely touched yours either,” she countered, gesturing the full plate of food with her chin.

Levi shook his head just as Eren put their phone away. “I had to respond to an email from one of the sponsors for the upcoming trip.”

“And I just got the photos from the last modeling shoot that I did,” Eren explained, “I had to upload a few teaser pictures on Twitter before I forget.” They gave Mikasa a smile. “But we’re good now. Come sit down, let’s eat.”

Mikasa spared them a wary look before sitting back down again and waited for her parents to start eating before she did, the frown still present on her face. They didn’t even apologize for their actions.

She discreetly watched the way they behaved next to each other. Their conversations have come to a strange lull, in which they don’t have much to say other than how much progress they were making on their respective projects or upcoming video ideas they wanted to share. Besides that, meals together tended to be a quiet affair – with her breaking the silence by telling them about her day and what homework she had and complaining about her school workload whenever she couldn’t stand the silence any longer. It soon became all too common for her to take lead during dinner conversations. Somewhere in the past few months, their conversations turned into a meeting, rather than enjoying each other’s company.

The sound of a phone buzzing snapped her out of her thoughts, eyes narrowing when her dad immediately grabbed hold of his phone and swiped the screen.

Levi’s eyes went back and forth as he read the new message. “Hey, Eren? Can you forward me the confirmation email for the flight? The organizer needs to know when we’ll arrive to have someone pick us up.”

“Hold on for a second.”

To Mikasa’s dismay, Eren had their phone in hand in an instance and was scrolling through to find what their husband was asking for. “It says that we’ll be there by 1:35, but we have a layover that’s only half an hour long. How much are you willing to bet that we’ll miss our connecting flight?”

Levi snorted. “It’s definitely going to happen. Just give me the flight number and I’ll send it to them. They can figure it out.”

At this point, Mikasa excused herself from dinner and walked out. She didn’t hear any protests from them, just their continued conversation about work.

She flopped on her bed in frustration. She knew she was being irrationally upset, but she couldn’t help but feel hopeless as she thought about her parents and how they were now compared to how they were at the beginning all those years ago. Their relationship turned… stagnant, if she was being honest with her observations. They weren’t necessarily on bad terms but they weren’t as close as they were either.

Sighing for the umpteenth time, she took out her own phone and messaged the two people she could always confide with.

Mikasa I need help.

Annie Don’t we all

Armin Annie, please. What’s wrong, Mikasa?

Mikasa Do you guys mind if we go on group chat?

Armin I’ll be on in a second.

Annie Same

Switching over to her tablet, she logged in and waited for her friends to be online. She made sure she locked the door beforehand and settled on the foot of her bed just as her tablet started ringing.

Accepting the call, she was immediately greeted with Armin’s worried voice.

“Are you okay, Mikasa?”

“Sort of… I was hoping you guys can help give me advice with something.”

“What’s up?” Annie chimed in.

Mikasa eyed her door before responding in a low voice, “You see, it’s about Dad and Anne.”

“What about your parents?”

“I’ve been noticing how distant they are lately.”

“To you?” Armin asked.

“A bit, but it’s more to each other. I don’t know, for the past couple of months, I’d noticed that they don’t talk to each other as much as they used to. They’re not fighting or anything, but they’re just… there. Like being with each other but also not really.”

“What makes you say that?” Even Annie, who was usually the stoic of the three, sounded concerned.

“For one, they’re always on their phones whenever we eat together. And I mean always. We made a rule of not using devices on the table a long, long time ago, but now, they both have their phones practically attached to their hands. And everything they talk about with each other is always related to work. I don’t even remember the last time they joked around and had fun together.”

There was a brief moment of silence before Annie mumbled, “That is kinda bad.”

Mikasa’s face settled into a frown. “So you don’t think I’m overreacting?”

“No,” Armin interjected, “If it’s something like this has been going for a while, I would be worried too.”

“When was the last time your parents went on a date? Just the two of them?” Annie asked.

She scrunched her brows together. “I honestly can’t remember… maybe around Valentine’s Day?”

“That was months ago.”

“I know, right?” Mikasa sighed in frustration. “I don’t know why or how it turned out like this.”

“I can kind of understand why it’s been such a long time,” Armin said, “Uncle Levi and Eren’s occupations are unusual compared to most parents. They’re public figures who need to make lots of content for their increasing fan base. I’m guessing their increasing workload means that they’re undertaking many projects at once which makes them constantly busy. Busy to the point that they’re not spending time together, even if they’re living and working under the same roof.”

Mikasa nodded slowly. Leave it to Armin to analyze the situation and understand it perfectly. “Exactly. And I can see that they’ve been stressing out from their work as well but not saying anything about it.”

“What they need is a vacation,” Annie suggested.

“That sounds good in theory, but they’re both workaholics. Taking a long break would probably stress them out even more considering that they create and edit their own content and feel pressured to still upload videos, even when they shouldn’t.”

“They’re going to another city for a convention as guest speakers, but it’s all going to be just work,” Mikasa agreed, “Eren told me that they also planned on meeting with their publisher for their upcoming book while they’re there while Dad is going to be testing some AR machine prototypes.”

“Man, Uncle Levi is so lucky…”

“Armin, focus.”

“Oh, right. Hm… I do think Annie’s right, though. Your parents need a break of some sort, but how about making it for a day at a time so they don’t miss as much?”

“And take away their phones so they won’t have it as a distraction,” Annie added.

“I guess it’s a worth a shot,” Mikasa said after thinking on it. A day without their phones wouldn’t kill them. “But how do I go on about doing that?”

“Ah, but what kind of friends would we be if we don’t help you trap your parents together like the good ol’ days?” Annie chuckled at Armin’s remark and Mikasa couldn’t help but smile, her mood perking up considerably.

“You definitely take after Uncle Erwin alright.” With a smile still on her face, reached for her pen and pad of paper, poised and ready to start taking notes. “Now, let’s get this plan started.”

Levi wearily eyed his daughter beside him. She was humming a happy tune as she drove the car, not noticing his blatant staring as she entered the intersection before making a left turn.

He glanced at the rear-view mirror and caught Eren’s eyes with his. Eren had a look of confusion on his face and he shared the same sentiment. Mikasa was behaving strangely all morning, demanding that he and Eren get dressed before leaving the house, not answering to any questions on where they were going before she literally pushed them outside and into the car. Any further questions about where she was taken them were met with silence so they eventually gave up and let her continue with her parent-napping.

Levi turned his attention to the window beside him, unsure of what else to do. Absentmindedly, he took out his phone and saw the notifications of unread emails. He internally sighed as he began to answer the emails, not noticing how Mikasa’s happy behavior dimmed down once he did.

After some time, the car came to a complete halt and Mikasa parked the car. “We’re here.”

He looked up and saw that they were at the entrance of a hotel. Finding the name scrawled on the side, he turned to look at her. “Santa Monica Beach? Is there a conference here or something?”

She scoffed and muttered, “Of course you would think of that,” before taking off her seatbelt, not answering his question. “Come on, get out.”

Levi and Eren got out of the car and followed her into the lavish lobby. Mikasa went straight to the front desk while her parents stood off to the side awkwardly as she started talking to the receptionist.

“What do you think she’s doing?” Eren asked.

“I don’t know. She’s been acting weird for the past couple of days.”

“Really?”

It was Levi’s turn to ask him a question, “You haven’t noticed?”

“Not really,” Eren replied back hesitantly, “I’ve been kind of busy lately.”

Levi hummed in agreement and their whispered conversation stopped once Mikasa came back with keycards in her hands. “These are for you,” she declared as she pushed the cards into his hands. “I arranged for an early check-in for your room. You guys will be staying on the second floor in room 216 with an ocean view. I’ll be right back.”

She fled out of the hotel before either Eren or Levi could utter out a sound. Levi looked at the shiny cards in his hands and before he knew it, Mikasa was back with his and Eren’s usual carry-on bags for flights and placed them on the floor. When did she pack those?

“Final thing, give me your phones.” Her arms were outstretched and she took the surrendered phones and pocketed them in her hoodie. “Perfect.”

“Mikasa, can you please tell us what’s going on now?” Eren asked.

The teenager crossed her arms and jutted her hip to the side. “You two are going to have a day off together. No phone, no work. Just a day for you two to catch up.”

“You can’t be serious, we have business to do,” Levi argued.

“Your work can survive without you for a day,” Mikasa said. “I’ll take any calls for you while you guys are having your day together.”

“But-”

“When was the last time you two went on a date? Just one day to enjoy each other’s company and not thinking about work?”

Eren and Levi looked at each other, trying to remember the last time they were alone together, looking ashamed as they did.

The few seconds of silence was all that Mikasa needed to hear. “See?” She had her smug, “I-told-you-so” voice and the two adults frowned on how right she was. “So take the day off. It’s not going to kill you.”

Backing away from them, she continued, “I’ll pick you up here around noon tomorrow for check-out. Oh, and don’t bother to call Uncle Erwin or Uncle Farlan to pick you up because they were the ones who booked the room for you.”

“Ta-ta for now. Have fun and always remember to use protection!” She practically skipped her way out of the lobby and smirked when her parents yelled after her.

They watched as she got back into the car and drove away. Eyeing the cards again, Levi turned to Eren with a sheepish look on his face. “Shall we?”

Eren beamed and Levi’s breath hitched for a moment. When was the last time he saw Eren smile at him like that? Thinking back on it, maybe Mikasa was right about having a day to themselves.

Returning the smile with his own, he reached for Eren’s hand and took hold of their bags with the other, wondering how the rest of the day would turn out like with just the two of them.

#fic: comh #comh update

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